FLIGHT 631
16 November 1951
ALIGHTING POINT: One
of the few remaining points
in Europe to be served by
flying boats on a regular
basis is Funchal, Madeira—
the attractive island resorty'
off the coast of Spain to
which Hythe and Solent
aircraft of Aquila Airways
carry heavy loads of tourists
throughout the year.
CIVIL AVIATION
B.I.A.T.A.'s CALL FOR FREEDOM
•pNCOURAGED by the better prospects for private enterprise
•*-' in air transport which the recent change of government has
opened up, the British Independent Air Transport Association
last week issued a statement of its immediate aims and objects. Its
main intention is to press the Government for the restoration of a
wider measure of freedom by revising the Civil Aviation and Cor-
porations Act of 1949. The Association hopes, also, that such a
policy will be reflected in directives to colonial governments.
A deputation from B.I.A.T.A.—which, incidentally, now repre-
sents 15 major British charter firms—is to put the Association's
views before the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Mr.
J. S. Maclay, within the next few weeks.
Pending the necessary legislation, B.I.A.T.A. hopes that a more
liberal interpretation will be placed on the definition in the exist-
ing Act, of a "scheduled service," and that the field of all true
charter work will be primarily reserved for the independent com-
panies. It is suggested that a statutory licensing authority, similar
to the American Civil Aeronautics Board, should be set up to
approve air-transport organizations and their operations. Addi-
tionally, a return to the principle of airport management by
municipal authorities and private enterprise is envisaged.
Among other things, B.I.A.T.A. urges immediate economies by
a drastic reduction in the administration of air transport in the
United Kingdom. This could be accomplished, the Association
points out, by the establishment of a civil-aviation secretariat
within the Ministry of Transport and by the setting up of a body,
similar to the A.R.B., to operate all navigational and telecom-
munications facilities. Such steps, together with the running of
airports by municipal or private enterprise under Government
contract, would leave a Directorate of Civil Aviation responsible
only for implementing Government policy.
B.I.A.T.A.'s objects, it will be noticed, are broadly in line with
Conservative policy towards air transport as stated by Mr. A. T.
Lennox-Boyd, chairman of the party's Civil Aviation Committee.
He said: "We are determined, when the opportunity comes again,
to restore a wide measure of private enterprise in the air, to throw
the lines open to private competition under proper regulation, and
to have some system analogous to the Civil Aeronautics Board in
the United States, which has given the benefit of co-ordination
and the benefit of freedom on competition as well."
At the Press conference at which B.I.A.T.A.'s statement of its
intentions was made, the Association's chairman, Mr. Eric Rylands
(who is managing director of Lancashire Aircraft Corporation)
said that the independent companies had been living in what was
virtually a "Gestapo police-state." He cited instances in which
passengers had actually been visited by the police to ascertain
whether nights which they had made in chartered aircraft could
possibly have encroached upon the Corporations' rights, under
the Civil Aviation Act, to operate scheduled services exclusively.
Replying to a question on whether the charter companies would
be willing, or able, to undertake the responsibility for running
some of the unprofitable "social" services now operated by
B.E.A., G/C. G. E. Mclntyre (managing director, Scottish
Aviation, Ltd.) said he thought that in most cases such services
could be successfully flown by private companies if they were
submitted to the charter market on an open-tender basis. He
agreed that a more liberal interpretation of the Civil Aviation Act
would allow companies to achieve considerably greater utilization
with their existing equipment than was now the case, but he did
Opt think there would be any startling increase in the number of
«rcraft which the independent operators could put into service.
CAUSE FOR SATISFACTION
/"COUNTRIES achieving less satisfactory results might do well to
^~/ consult the Australian Ministry for Civil Aviation on the
question of how to run an air-transport industry which could
provide a major arm of defence in emergency at a total cost of only
£23,000,000 a year.
A recent statement by Australia's Minister for Civil Aviation,the Hon. H. L. Anthony, was couched in the following glowing
terms :
"Civil aviation is Australia's most amazing investment. Al-
though, if accepted as a vital defence project, it could justify a
heavily subsidized existence, in point of fact it charges the lowest
passenger-fares in the world, receives less State assistance than
any other form of transport and still provides a service second to
none. Investigations show that in 1950 the total cost of providing
both for domestic and international services was £23,100,000. Of
this total 89 per cent was borne directly by the users and only 11 per
cent was contributed indirectly by the Government. The whole
industry, including the Department of Civil Aviation, employs
20,000 people and uses assets costing approximately £29 million—
a figure which is only as low as this because many of the materials
used were purchased from war disposal stocks at a discount. The
Department employs 220 air-traffic controllers and 500 skilled
operators in the communications service, which handles millions
of messages a year over the largest radio-communication network
in the Southern Hemisphere. Only 23 per cent of the Depart-
ment's staff is employed in administrative positions, the remainder
being aviation experts with years of training and experience. As
a defence factor, commercial aviation and consequently the stimu-
lation of passenger, cargo and other air traffic, is particularly
important from the Australian point of view because of the limited
funds available for defence generally. The magnificent network of
airlines in Australia will play a very important part in any future
war in which the country is involved, for aircraft, equipment and
personnel can be transferred to the war effort and, like the mercan-
tile marine, become the chief tender to the fighting Forces over-
night."
DEFINITIONS FOR SAFETY
IN M.C.A. Information Circular 140/1951 it is pointed out that,because a certain amount of confusion has arisen in the past
over the exact meaning of "break-off height," the term is now to
be abolished and replaced by the new terms "obstacle-clearance
limit" and "critical height." The "obstacle-clearance limit"—
declared by the airport authority concerned—is the height above
airfield level, for a given runway direction and approach aid, below
which the minimum approved vertical clearance cannot be main-
tained, either when the aircraft is approaching or going round
again. "Critical height" is defined as being the altitude specified
in the Operations Manual as the minimum height above airfield
level to which an approach to land can safely be continued without
visual reference to the ground. It thus differs from the "obstacle-
clearance limit" in that it takes into account the character of the
particular aircraft in question and the competence of the pilot.
Moreover, it is determined by the operator concerned and not by
the airfield authority.
It will be recalled that Lord Brabazon, in the report of his
inquiry into bad-weather landings and take-offs, recommended
that the term "critical height" should be used.